Hi everyone. I am new to the forums. I have been drinking wine for a few years now but I have never been much of a Port drinker. I enjoy 10 year old tawny ports a lot so I have a couple of questions I was hoping someone would answer.

When buying 10 year old tawny ports (non vintage), should I worry about the year of bottling? Could there be a marked quality difference for example in a port bottled in 2003 vrs one bottled in 2005 assuming same brand and type of port?

Also, should I worry about the year the port was bottled and how it may have been stored prior to opening. I love Niepoort 10 year old tawny port, I just bought one bottled in 2005 and was wondering if it is still in good shape since tawny port is supposed to be drank young.

I welcome your feedback.

On another note, I live in the DC metro area, work in DC but live in Rockville Maryland. I can’t seem to find quality wine stores near Rockville and even in the City, beyond, Wine Specialist, Calvert Woodley and MacArthur Beverages I don’t find a store with a nice variety of selections. Do you know of any “hidden gems”? Please advise.

Since the rest of the DC forumites seem to be slacking on your request, I'll do what I can.

First, Tawnys, kind of like NV Champagne, are made by each house in a "house style" striving for consistency from bottling to bottling. Although you'll probably experience a teeny bit of variation from year to year the style should be consistent.

An unopened Tawny should keep indefinitely.

There are no wine stores worth visiting in Montgomery County Maryland. Even the ones that have worked to put together a decent inventory are crippled by the Montgomery County Liquor Board's monopoly. Pricing is just ridiculous. Unless you're just looking for a single bottle in a hurry, it's always worth it to cross the border into DC and shop there. Some other interesting places to shop:



Schneider's of Capitol Hill

Circle Liquors

Wide World of Wines

PH

I agree with Purplehaze and I would add that in answer to your question as to whether you should worry about how the port was stored - yes.

Port is not heated and you can cook it just like any other wine. If you don't want to worry about that, drink madeira. Otherwise, the tawnys with an indication of age will already be slightly oxidized from their long time in wood. Tawny ports are not vintage dated, so as mentioned, you don't worry about the year of bottling. They are blends and the "age" designation only refers to the average age of the wines in the blend, not the specific age of the port itself. The vintage dated wines that spend time in wood are the cohleita ports.

And I definitely second the suggestion to go to Wide World of Wines. Nice store and nice people and they're always getting something new in the cellar.

Thanks to both for your input. Will definitely visit Wide World of Wines to pick something nice for New Year's. Saludos.